Nowadays, with the widespread Internet use and office automation, computer operators are required to work for a longer time and therefore suffer from more fatigue. It is important, therefore, to relieve their fatigue.
Preferably, the operators should have a periodic break (for example, once an hour) to take exercise for recovering from their fatigue of eyes, neck, hands and back. If the operator is absorbed in operating a computer apparatus, he or she may forget to have a break or take exercise. To solve this problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Nos. Hei 1-163874 and Hei 4-120668 disclose break notification systems that display a break sign on the screen of the display every predetermined time. The break sign allows the operator to recognize that it is time to have a break or take exercise.
The break notification systems, however, display a break sign based on the operating time of a computer apparatus rather than the fatigue degree of the operator. Since the operating time of a computer apparatus is counted even when the operator is away from the computer apparatus, the break sign may be displayed even though the operator is not tired. The break sign displayed in such a situation is annoying to the operator. In addition, the break notification systems do not have the ability to relieve the operator's fatigue.